Fall trip 2018

This is a catch up blog for past activities.

Wednesday, 7 October, 2018

Son Tim had arrived from Houston the day prior to us arriving back from the East Coast so we now scrambled to get groceries purchased, the RV ready to go, and get both the truck and RV loaded for the Fall Trip.

All was done on time so on Friday October 19^th we left at 7:15 in the morning. I like to leave before the daily commute traffic starts to build. We stopped in Fillmore for a breakfast sandwich and again when we got on Hwy 138 so Tim could check on a Geo-cache. We stopped in Mohave for fuel then drove North on Hwy 14 to the Garlock road. Eventually we ended up going through Trona to Panamint Valley.

The rest of the gang was already set up in our camp site but they nicely left me room to just pull in off the road.

We planned to explore and watch Military jets fly through Panamint Valley. It is a great place to see jets at low altitude.

Unfortunately I had a bad cold so spent most of my time in the RV snoozing. I did make one trip to the site of the Death Valley Superintendents summer cabin off of Wildrose Canyon Road. It had been on my trip list for years so I didn’t want to miss it this time. We also continued on to the Charcoal Kilns before returning to camp.

On Wednesday the 24^th of Oct we drove to the Elks Club in Ridgecrest and dumped our holding tanks bought groceries and had lunch before driving on to Baker, CA where we spent the night parked behind the Mad Greek Restaurant. Dinner was of course at the Mad Greek.

The next day we drove to Death Valley and parked at Sunset Campground for 2 nights while we waited for our reservations to take effect at Furnace Creek Campground.

On Saturday we continued our tradition of attending Beatty Days in Betty, NV. They have a parade followed by activities in the park. Old cars are on display, food booths are going, and the beer booth is busy. We usually stay around and have lunch then leave.

Waiting for the parade to start.

Here comes the parade.

Arriving back at Furnace Creek we moved our rigs to Furnace Creek Campground to start our 2 week stay for the Death Valley 49ers.

Did I mention that we collect Mylar balloons? Well we do. Check out “Desert Balloon Recovery Crew” on Facebook. This year we collected 50 Mylar balloons while on our fall trip. Tim collected 17 in one day while Geo-caching. Remember, all those balloons used for that special event eventually end up somewhere.

Our Mylar Balloon haul.

Tim on the salt pan at Badwater.

Hiking Natural Bridge Canyon.

Tim returned home on November 3^rd from Las Vegas. It gave us a chance to have a nice lunch at Gordon Biersch Brewery on paradise Road before he left.

On my way back to Death Valley from Las Vegas I stopped in Pahrump for fuel and groceries.

I left Death Valley on November 12^th after attending the Death Valley 49ers annual meeting. The plan was to stop in Baker again for the night but the temperature was projected to be 34 degrees so Jeff and I moved on to Boron and the Arabian Oasis RV Park where the temperature the next morning was 28 degrees. Thank goodness I had my electric heater. I got home about 1PM. Another good fall trip.

Williamsburg, Virginia

Thursday 27 December, 2018

This is a continuation of of our fall trip to Williamsburg, Virginia from the last blog post.

Sunday 7 October, 2018

We left the cruise ship after an early breakfast and Gary eventually got a LYFT car to take us to the car rental agency in Newark, NJ. The first car wasn’t big enough to carry all our luggage so Gary had to do the paperwork for another one which did hold everything.

Our plan was to drive to Rockville, Maryland, stay at a motel, and drive to Williamsburg the next day. The I-95 corridor South of New York is partially toll roads and partially freeways. As a driver, it is sometimes difficult to tell which part you are going to end up on as they are side-by-side. We drove for many miles on the toll road before getting on the freeway portion. We stopped in one of the center toll plaza’s for a rest stop and food and then continued on.

Our motel was a Red Roof Inn which was not up to our normal motel standards to say the lest. In late afternoon we drove to Washington D. C., drove around the mall and parked at the Jefferson Memorial. It was just prior to sunset as we walked along the Tidal Basin as the lights came on. Pretty cool!

The next day we drove on to Williamsburg and to the Powhatan Resort (Pow ha tan), a Diamond Resorts time share. It is a very large property and we had a 2 bedroom suite with an indoor hot tub. Pretty nice.

After lunch and grocery buying, we crashed for the day.

Day One.

We explored the Jamestown Settlement and then drove the Colonial Parkway to Williamsburg and had lunch at the “Mellow Mushroom” which had just opened, Later, we drove the “Colonial Parkway” to Yorktown and toured the visitor center. We followed this up by driving part of the battlefield route and reading the roadside signs which told how the different forces were deployed.

Day Two

We drove to the Norfolk Naval Base (largest US Naval base) for a bus tour. The tour was 1:15 minutes long but ours got extended by an hour as the bus broke down and we had to wait for a replacement. We passed the time by asking the driver “Sea Stories” about his 32 year Naval service.

Day Three

Saw the movie “Simple Favor”.

Day Four

The tail end of Hurricane Michael came through overnight and took down some trees on the property. Lots of branches down and some damage to property and cars. No electricity all day. Went to another movie theater which had electricity and saw “First Man”.

Powhatan Resort with trees down on the right.

Day Five

Drove to Montpelier and toured President James Madison’s home which sits on a hill with rolling fields below it. 

View from the front of James Madison's house.

 Next we drove to James Monroe’s home, Highland, which the GPS took us over “Chicken Mountain Road” to get to it, unfortunately, that was to the back gate of the property. Never fully trust your GPS. 

Monroe’s house has a recent history update. A few years ago a local newspaper from the period was discovered which mentioned a fire at the Monroe property but it did not say what burned. Further investigation showed a foundation which was not part of the present day dwelling and it is believed to be for the original house. It hasn’t been determined how or if to proceed from here as there are no known original drawings on which to base the house design.

Huge tree in front of Monroe's house. Can you see Clyda? 

We next drove to nearby Monticello, to see Jefferson’s home. It was late in the day but there were still large crowds around. We got one of the last tours of the day. All very impressive.

For dinner, Gary found a local restaurant on-line called the Moose Inn. However, as we drove up, there was only one car and it was in a “sketchy” part of town We decided there had to be a better place to eat. Gary stopped for gas at a local station and had to go inside to pay. For his 10 gallons of gas he also got a free piece of fried chicken. He said it was very good. We eventually found a local restaurant off the beaten path called “The Crescent Inn” and according to the menu was “All home made”. It turns out that the cook was Vietnamese. All in all, the food was quit good. Another adventure while traveling.

Day Six

This being a Sunday I went to Mass only a short distance from Powhatan at St Bede. It is an huge awesome church built completely in the round. The pipe organ was humongous and had pipes both up front from floor to ceiling as well as pipes in the back which had 6 foot trumpets projecting out. The sound was incredible, especially when the trumpets were played.

We later again drove the “Colonial Parkway” back to Yorktown and toured the remaining part of the Civil War battlefield we had not seen previously including the site where Cornwall surrendered to Washington.

Day Seven

Drove back to Washington D. C. area and stayed at a local motel. Later, drove to Mt Vernon and toured Washington’s home. What a beautiful view of the Potomac River from the front of the house. From the back at a distance, the house looks to be made of large white stone blocks but in reality it is wood siding shaped to look like blocks. At the back of the house was a very large lawn which was unheard of for that time period. Lawns were not in vogue.

Day Eight

We packed up for our return home later in the day and drove to the Steven F Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum at Dulles International Airport. The first order of business was lunch. Unfortunately, the only choice was McDonald's. They could of at least had a food court as there is plenty of space.

The displays were incredible as so many large aircraft are displayed. I found lots of old Navy stuff on display that I had worked with so that made my day.

We eventually went to Dulles International Airport for our respective flights back home. We flew nonstop on Alaska Airlines to Los Angeles while Cindy and Gary flew to San Francisco. We then had to wait for the 8 PM Airbus which got us home about 10:30 PM. Son Tim had arrived a day earlier so he picked us up from the Airbus.

We were gone for 28 days and covered a lot of ground. We thank Cindy and Gary for taking us along on a Grand Adventure.

To be continued: The next post will be about Tim and my fall trip to death Valley.

Fall cruise to Quebec City, Canada.

This is a continuation of of our fall trip to New England from the last blog post.

Sunday 23 September, 2018

We checked aboard the Celebrity Summit at Port Elizabeth, New Jersey for a 2 week cruise to Canada for the fall color tour. We had been on her sister ship the Integrity a few years ago so the ships layout was familiar. In fact, I think we had the same cabin numbers.

Manhatten skyline from cruise ship.

Our first stop was Boston where we did a Hop On- Hop Off bus tour of the city as it was raining. We liked the tour so much we did it twice.

Docked at Boston.

In Portland, Maine we again did a Hop On- Hop Off tour with a stop at Portland Head Lighthouse as the highlight. Along the way we learned about potato doughnuts from the tour guide. After leaving the tour we walked back up the street looking at shops and the doughnut shop was right there so I popped in and bought 3 doughnuts for us to share. They really are the best doughnuts and yes, they are made with mashed potatoes.

Hop On - Hop Off bus in Portland, Maine.

Cobblestone street in Portland, Maine.

For our next stop in Bar Harbor, Maine we elected to take a ships tour to Acadia National Park and Cadillac Mountain. The tour was only 2 hours but we wanted to get the full tour guides perspective and narration rather than doing it on our own,

It was well worth the price.

View from Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park.

Our next day was at sea as we traveled the St Lawrence seaway to Quebec City, Canada, where we overnighted so had two days to explore.

We rented a car and spent the first day exploring Ile D’Orleans, an island North of Quebec city. This is a very picturesque island with farm lands, small farmers markets and a few restaurants one of which we stopped at for lunch. Lunch was pizza with fried dill pickles on the side. Not pickle slices which we have had in the South but spears battered and fried.

Ile d'Orleans North of Quebec.

After leaving the island we drove North to Sainte Anne-de-Beaupre cathedral which is a beautiful Catholic church with cooper panel doors and a history of medical miracles.

Medical devices from people who were cured of their ailments.

The next day we visited the hotel Frontenac which overlooks the city of Quebec. The ramparts surrounding the city are the only fortified city walls remaining in North America North of Mexico. We strolled the wooden walkways around the hotel, walked the nearby streets, stopped for coffee and hot chocolate (which was served in bowls) and bought Hop On – Hop Off tickets for a tour of the city. After the tour we had lunch of Crepes at La Petit Chateau nearby.

Clyda and Gary on the boardwalk.

Our next stop was Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Here we rented a car and drove to Gros Morne National Park for the fall colors. We stopped for lunch in Rocky Harbour at Earle's where the specialty is Cod tongues. Unfortunately they were out of cod tongues so we had fish and chips with partridge berry cheese cake for dessert.

Partridge berry cheesecake.

The next stop was Sydney, Nova Scotia where we again rented a car and drove to the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic site. The site is very large, the buildings are awesome and open to the public. The history of the rebuilding of this 1744 fort alone makes it worth visiting.

Clyda on the left at the big fiddle on the dock at Sydney, Nova, Scotia.

Our last stop was at Halifax, Nova Scotia where we rented a car and drove about an hour South to Lunenburg, a very picturesque town. All the buildings are painted bright colors. We stopped in a small cafe to a bite of lunch and also to partake of a Canadian specialty, poutain. It is fried potatoes with meat gravy and cheese curds on top. Mostly it is served as french fries with gravy covering them. Actually, it was very good.

Peggy's Cove Nova, Scotia where all the tour busses go.

A "flight" of martini's to celebrate the end of our cruise.

Ed and Gary, Clyda and Cindy.

From Halifax we returned to Port Elizabeth, New Jersey to end our cruise.

To be continued.

More catching up - New York

September 19, 2018

Day 1

Clyda and I left for an extended trip back east with Cindy and Gary. This trip was not without its problems as I had purchased airline tickets months before but American Airlines kept changing our flight times and itinerary. Eventually I got disgusted and canceled the tickets and re-booked on Alaska Airlines direct from Los Angeles to Newark, NJ. This new schedule put us in Newark at the time we needed to be there to meet Cindy and Gary however, it meant catching a 3:30 AM Airbus to Los Angeles in order to make that schedule.

We did arrive on time, met up with Cindy and Gary, and took Lyft to our hotel on Broadway in Manhattan. The hotel was the Broadway at Times Square which was only a half block from Times Square on West 46^th St. Perfect!!

After checking in we walked through Times Square to Ellen’s Stardust Cafe at Broadway and W 51^st St. What a hoot! The wait staff are all trying to get on Broadway so when not waiting on you they are singing. A great way to start a 4-day trip to New York!

Cindy and Gary at Stardust Cafe.

Day 2

We took Lyft to Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises on the Hudson River for a tour of Manhattan Island. We couldn’t do a complete circle of the island because of a bridge being repaired on the Northeast side. Still in all, a great tour and great views of Manhattan.

Circle Line Tour

We then again took Lyft to St Patrick’s Cathedral where we toured it. For Lunch we went around the corner to Bill’s Burgers where Cindy and I had an Impossible Burger which is made with out meat. Of course it went down nicely with a glass of wine.

From there we walked to Rockefeller Center where we did a tour of the Rockefeller Building. Great views from high up at 30 Rock.

St Patrick's Cathedral from the "Top of The Rock"

Empire State building from "top of the Rock"

We walked back to our hotel and got ready to attend a show that evening. From our hotel we walked South on Broadway or at least attempted to walk as the sidewalks were jammed with people watching the large video screen on the Marriott Hotel across the street. People were stopped and wouldn’t move so it became a scary situation as people were pushing and shoving and screaming. Eventually a cop came along and in good ol’ New York fashion got people to move.

We found a pizza parlor for dinner called John’s of Times Square Pizza in the theatre District. It looked like a hole in the wall from the outside but inside it opened up to a very large room with brick ovens in 4 corners, and a balcony with stained glass windows. We asked our waiter about that and he said it had once been a church.

After dinner we crossed the street to the Majestic Theatre and saw Phantom of the Opera. I has been playing here for 32 years. What a great show.

Day 3

We took Lyft to Battery Park where we had tickets for a tour by boat of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We did not get off at the statue but continued on to Ellis Island where we had lunch and toured the building for several hours. Fascinating exhibits and movies of how our fore fathers came to this country.

Arriving back at Battery Park we walked to the 9-11 memorial. We toured the reflecting ponds then went into the museum nearby. We spent a lot of time looking at all the exhibits and the base of the original towers underground. It really is a hallowed piece of ground.

Freedom Tower

Taking Lyft back to our hotel, we went to O’Brien’s, an Irish pub across the street for dinner.

Day 4

We took the subway to Central Park. While Cindy sat and read, Gary, Clyda and I walked the park as far north as the lake. A beautiful day and families out in force to enjoy it.

We again took Lyft to Battery Park and rode the Staten Island Ferry to Staten Island where we had a nice leisurely lunch and then rode the ferry back.

Clyda had her New York hot dog from a street vendors cart at Battery Park and we then walked to Wall Street. 

From there we took the subway back to 52^nd street and walked back to our hotel. Dinner was at  the TSQ Brasserie on 7^th Ave.

Day 5

I went to St Patrick's Cathedral for mass on Sunday then we packed our bags and took Lyft to Port Elizabeth, New Jersey where we checked aboard the Celebrity Summit for a 2 week cruise to Quebec Canada for the fall color tour.

To be continued...